Islamabad, Feb 17 (IANS): A couple has been stoned to death in a village in Loralai district of Pakistan after a cleric issued a fatwa against them.

"The people of the village stoned to death a man and woman who were not married to each other. Rather, they were married to other people," Dawn quoted Abdul Latif Jogezai, an official of the paramilitary Levies Force, as saying Monday.

The incident took place at Manzkai village Sunday morning.

The couple were killed on suspicion of having illicit relations. No funeral prayers were offered for them, said Jogezai.

The slain man, Daraz Khan, was buried in Katoti area while the woman was buried in her village.

After hearing about the incident, personnel of the Levies Force reached Manzkai village and arrested the cleric who issued the fatwa and six men who stoned the couple to death, Jogezai said.

He said a case has been registered against the people of the village. Most of the residents fled from the village to avoid arrest, he added.